2017 Champions, Team Leeds, is amongst the seven squads to announce their involvement in the 2018 Accenture British Triathlon Mixed Relay Cup, to be joined by quartets from Bath, Birmingham, Cardiff, Loughborough, Nottingham and Stirling. This is the first wave of announcements, with further teams set to be added to the roster over the coming weeks.

The event, which sees British Triathlon’s Performance Centre squads from across Great Britain go head-to-head in the sport’s newest discipline, will take place in conjunction with the AJ Bell London Triathlon, organised by IMG on Saturday 4 August. Teams of two men and two women will join to form a mixed relay team, each completing a mini-triathlon before the iconic ‘tagging’ of their next teammate to take over. From a deep water start in the London Docklands, athletes will each complete a 300m swim, before taking on a 5.6km bike and 1.4km run around London’s Excel Centre.

The Accenture British Triathlon Mixed Relay Cup made its debut last September on Nottingham’s Victoria Embankment, with five international teams also invited to join the line-up. Team Loughborough I took the runner-up spot, with Canada making it onto the podium to claim bronze.

Lifting the Cup in 2017 with Team Leeds was an unforgettable experience

Jessica Learmonth, 2017 Accenture British Triathlon Mixed Relay Cup Champion, said: “Lifting the Cup in 2017 with Team Leeds was an unforgettable experience. Our performance centre setup is so key to our development as triathletes, so it’s great to be able to compete alongside each other.”

Emma McGuigan, Accenture Senior Managing Director, said: “We’re proud to play a leading role in the Accenture British Triathlon Mixed Relay Cup, now in its second year following a fantastic debut event in 2017. Supporting the nation’s rising talent by providing competitive, mixed gender racing opportunities across Great Britain is at the heart of our partnership with British Triathlon, and we look forward to watching the event unfold in London.”

Andy Salmon, British Triathlon CEO, said: “The Accenture British Triathlon Mixed Relay Cup offers a fantastic platform to showcase our top British talent and the exciting mixed relay format, whilst highlighting the important role our Performances Centres play in the development of our future stars.

“Following the event’s debut in Nottingham last year, we’re thrilled to join the AJ Bell London Triathlon in 2018, one of the UK’s most established events.”